


Try and Touch the Sky

by HavocRoyale



Series: We're All Stars REDUX [4]
Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Coming Out, Gen, Trans Aaron Samuels, trans damian hubbard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24186580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HavocRoyale/pseuds/HavocRoyale
Summary: “How’s you and Caddy doin’?”Oh...they’re gonna have this talk…“Uh...we’re doing...well? I guess? I never really know what to say when people ask that,” Aaron rubs the back of his neck with his free hand, suddenly much more nervous than before.He wasn’t really lying. Just not telling the whole truth, so what’s the big deal?
Relationships: Cady Heron/Aaron Samuels, Damian Hubbard & Aaron Samuels
Series: We're All Stars REDUX [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1738498
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Try and Touch the Sky

The last person Aaron expected to stop him in the halls during lunch was Shane Oman. But here he was, stopped in the hallways during lunch by Shane Oman. It wasn’t easy to forget how big Shane was since he was almost always accompanied by Tyler Kimble, who was exactly what you’d expect from a mathlete. Scrawny and short but still lanky. But being the person confronted by Shane really made his size all the more obvious. If Aaron wasn’t as tall as he was, he’d feel dwarfed with Shane’s hand heavy on his shoulder.

“Samuels.”

“Uh...Shane?”

The guy frowned slightly, “You’re friends with Sarkisian, right?”

_ Oh. This wasn’t going to be good, was it? _

“Maybe...what’s it to you?”

“Is she doing alright? I talked to her yesterday and she said she was doing fine but you know how she is, man,” This took a sudden turn. Shane was genuinely worried, something Aaron honestly wasn’t 100% sure he was capable of prior to this meeting, “I’m worried about her. She said Kelly had been pushing Hubbard around and then she skipped yesterday and I just wanna make sure nothing happened, yknow?”

Aaron looked to Tyler next to Shane, trying to somehow telepathically get some answers from the blond mathlete. Tyler was completely uninterested, earbuds in and a video on his phone playing, “I-I-I think she’s fine? I’m pretty sure she’s okay? Regina tried to apologize to her Wednesday and it really got to her, but nothing else really happened.”

Shane looked relieved, “Oh, thank god. That apology has been a long time coming, I’m glad she finally did it.”

He let go of Aaron’s shoulder, instead placing his hand on Tyler’s, the smaller guy hardly even reacted, just paused the video and pulled one of his earbuds out, “Hm?”

“We’re all good, we can go study for the stupid english final now,” Shane smiled brightly down at Tyler, who clearly wasn’t amused. He shot Aaron a quick look before rolling his eyes, “It’s not stupid when your graduation depends on it, Shane.”

“It’s a little stupid,” Shane waved at Aaron as the two guys started walking down the hall, probably headed to the library.

_ Weird. _

Making his way into the cafeteria, he sat down at their normal table beside Cady. Gretchen and Karen were also there again, sitting beside Damian on the opposite side, but no Regina, “Where’s Regina?”

“She had physical therapy today,” Gretchen stated matter-of-factly.

Cady took his hand in her’s and leaned against his arm for a second, “What took you so long? You usually get here like first.”

“Oh! Uh, Shane Oman stopped me in the hallway? It was weird, he asked if Janis was okay?”

Everyone at the table shared knowing looks and suddenly he felt incredibly out of place, “Uh...guys?”

Janis just grinned and let out a snort before going back to drawing in her sketchbook, “Shane’s just picking up the slack on his bodyguard duties. Sorry he made you late to lunch, I talked to him yesterday. I didn’t think he’d still be worried or anything.”

Karen chuckled, “In middle school, Shane pretended to be Janis’ boyfriend in seventh grade. He took her to like all the dances and stuff. They looked sooo uncomfortable.”

“Like when you have to go to dances with your cousin or something! And when Regina outed her, he was like totally the only person who stood by Janis’ side. He’d get into fights all the time with people calling her names or trying to like trip her and stuff!” Gretchen was quick to add-in.

That froze Aaron’s mind in its tracks.

_ Regina had outed Janis? That wasn’t just a rumor...did that mean the space thing started with her too? Did she really key that into Janis’ locker? _

Aaron leaned onto the table to get a better look of Janis who had taken to trying to hide her face. That information made it a much bigger deal, he knows exactly why Janis would be reluctant to forgive Regina now. He’s been in that exact place as her before. Damian reached across the table and placed his own hand over Janis’ other hand, there definitely had to be some truth to that. 

He’d have to ask her about it at some point. He feels stupid for not once thinking to do so before now.

Aaron cleared his throat, “So! It’s Friday...movie night?”

Damian shot him a grin, his brown eyes sparkling, he was thankful to have a friend like him. He lit up any room he walked in and it took actual work to make things awkward with him, “No, Cady wants to try and get some “real” studying done with Janis tonight. Apparently  _ my _ studying isn’t up to her standards and-”

“Right, because you’re just  _ such _ a great study buddy,” Aaron let out a laugh, all the girls joined along with. Damian placed his hand over Aaron’s mouth, “Shut. So since they’re having a study night, I figured we could have a “Boys Night Friday” and maybe watch Mamma Mia finally.”

“Yeah! That sounds great, do you want a ride after school today?”

“Yes, oh my god, you’re a lifesaver. If I have to listen to those freshman talk about yaoi and their favorite male celebrities anymore I’m going to lose it! I’ll go off the deep end! Say goodbye to your favorite human teddy bear because I’ll be dead along with all those weirdos because I’ll crash the bus right then and there.”

Janis reached over to pat him on the shoulder, “It’s okay, buddy. Just let it all out.”

“What’s yaoi?” Karen spoke up quietly from across the table and suddenly everyone froze in their tracks.

“Uh…” Janis looked between him and Damian.

Aaron was  _ not _ getting stuck in that conversation, “Not it!”

Janis and Damian echoed him in sync, followed shortly by Cady’s on, “Not it!”

All eyes turned to Gretchen, she let out a groan, “I hate you guys. This is so unfair.”

* * *

Aaron could feel Damian buzzing with excitement behind him as he unlocked the door to his apartment, “Now remember, this is an apartment. So we can’t really be loud and rambunctious like we are with Caddy and Janis at any of you guys’ houses.”

Damian rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I know, Aaron. Just hurry up! I wanna see your cat!”

The second Aaron opened the door, Damian pushed past him and sped into the apartment. He let out a small laugh, Damian was obsessed with Blaze. He heard the familiar “mrrp!” of his cat from down the hall as he shut the door. He walked into the living room to see Damian on the couch with his face buried into Blaze’s orange fur as she purred loudly. He tried to say something but it was muffled in all the fur.

“I’m sorry what? I can understand when you’re talking into my  _ cat. _ ”

Damian pulled away reluctantly, “I said I fucking love your cat, dude. She’s like a little orange cloud with a motor inside her.”

“Yeah, she gets that a lot,” He patted the back of the couch as he started towards his room, “Alright, I’ll be back in a sec. I gotta take my binder off.”

“Oh shit! Samesies!” Damian leapt up from the couch, Blaze immediately climbing onto his shoulders.

Both boys stopped and just stared at each other for a moment. Aaron realized he hadn’t told Damian that he was trans before now, he hadn’t meant to at all actually. It just kind of slipped out.

_ Wait. Damian totally just came out to him as well for the same exact thing. _

“Holy shit…” Damian’s voice was soft, “... _ Holy shit. _ ”

Aaron pointed to the door beside him, and gave a nervous smile, “This one’s the bathroom...uh...yeah... _ neat. _ ”

He rushed into his own room further down the hall, embarrassed. That was by far the best case scenario for coming out as trans, but he still hadn’t meant to. He could feel his anxiety building up quickly, he needed to get his binder off fast. When Aaron walked back into the living room, Damian was sitting on the floor playing with Blaze and a catnip mouse. He knelt down beside them, doing his best to keep his breathing even and not clench his fists or grind his teeth.

Damian noticed something was wrong immediately, “Hey, man, you okay? If you’re worried I’m gonna like tell people, like, I swear on my signed Kinky Boots playbill I won’t.”

Aaron just shook his head and held his arms out, “N-No...just need Blaze…”

He hated how small his voice sounded. He hated that he could hear his lisp in that. He hated how  _ hard _ it was just for him to say four words.

Blaze let out a curt beep and pawed at Aaron’s lap before climbing up into his arms. He took a deep breath as he held the large cat against him and buried his face into her fur, she was purring. Eventually his heart stopped racing and breathing was easy and he no longer had to make the conscious decision  _ not _ to grind his teeth. When he looked up he saw Damian was just sitting with his back against the couch and eyes on his phone in his hand. He must’ve noticed Aaron adjust because he turned to him and smiled encouragingly, “Feel any better?”

“Y-Yeah...sorry,” He winced when his lisp came out again, it was rare nowadays but his anxiety rattled his brain that he just up and forgets how to hide it, “I didn’t really...mean to tell you I was trans? Like! Okay, it’s not a bad thing, I just...I didn’t intend to? I wasn’t ready.”

Damian just nodded, “I get it, man. You gonna tell me what... _ that _ just now was?”

Aaron scooted across the floor so he was sitting shoulder to shoulder with Damian against the couch, “Anxiety. Blaze is kind of like...an unregistered service animal of sorts? I think she’s technically an emotional support animal, she helps with anxiety, dysphoria, and the likes, but yunno.”

“That’s cool.”

“I guess.”

“So...you have a lisp?” It wasn’t phrased like he thought it was dumb or weird, but Aaron felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up with anxiety, “Uh...yeah. I have a retainer? Like I used to have braces but when those got removed I got stuck with the retainer and now...it’s annoying, I know.”

Damian elbowed him with another smile, “Nah. Don’t worry about it, Janis  _ and _ Shane had braces as kids, and Shane still has a bit of a lisp.”

It’s definitely gonna take a lot of time to come to terms with the fact that  _ Shane Oman _ is best friends with the  _ Art Freaks. _

* * *

His mom gets home halfway through Mamma Mia. Blaze jumps over the back of the couch and runs up to her, rubbing against her legs and meowing loudly for attention. 

“Aaron, honey, can you come get Blaze? I’ve got groceries.”

“Course, Mom!” He leapt around the couch and over to his mom, picking up the cat from her feet, “Is there anymore downstairs?”

“No, this is it. Thank you, Peach,” She set the bags on the counter, “You said you have a friend staying the night right? I hope he likes chicken alfredo.”

“I like both of those things separately, I’ve never had them together though,” Damian had gotten up from the couch and joined them in the kitchen.

“Mom, this is Damian. Dam, this is my mom.”

His mom shook Damian’s hand and Damian grinned wide, “You wouldn’t happen to have any nail polish, would you, ma’am?”

She looked confused for a moment, “Yes, any specific colors?”

She left the kitchen to go to her room, followed closely by Damian and Aaron, “Yeah, blue, pink, and white?”

They waited in the doorway until she came back with 3 bottles of nail polish, “You’re in luck. I almost thought I’d thrown these out. Aaron used to  _ love _ getting his nails painted when he was little. He stopped around middle school.”

Damian smiled and gave Aaron a light shove, “Well, we’re gonna try and get him back into it tonight!”

Soon enough, both he and Damian were sitting criss-cross across from each other on the couch as his mom started cooking. Damian had a firm grip of one of his hands as he painted his nails. He was glad he got his anxiety underwraps because he knew if he hadn’t he’d be shaking like Karen’s shake weight. He was however really happy with this turn of events, Damian was painting his nails in the same pattern that the trans pride flag was in.

Damian was humming along with Voulez-Vous playing on the TV and completely absorbed into painting Aaron’s nails. He felt himself smile softly to himself, this was nice...this was  _ really _ nice.

He can’t think of the last time he just hung out with another guy like this. Sure, he hangs out with his teammates from swim or soccer, but it’s nothing like this. He loves his team but they’re more the type to unironically say “no homo” just because you bumped into them in the hall rather than watch musicals together and sing along.

Aaron was pulled out of his thoughts by Damian’s voice, “So…”

“Uh...so...what?”

“How’s you and Caddy doin’?”

_ Oh...they’re gonna have this talk… _

“Uh...we’re doing...well? I guess? I never really know what to say when people ask that,” Aaron rubs the back of his neck with his free hand, suddenly much more nervous than before.

He wasn’t  _ really _ lying. Just not telling the  _ whole _ truth, so what’s the big deal?

Damian gave him a look like he was stupid, “Uh huh, okay, what’s up? That’s not the sound of a guy happily in love.”

“What? No, seriously, Dam, it’s fine. We’re fine. I don’t—“

“Avoiding eye contact, hesitating, defensive answers. Sounds to me like you’re lying.”

“I’m not! I just—,” There’s no use in lying at this point, “I dunno. It kind of feels like we’re forcing nothing to be something.”

“Bingo! Let’s hear it. Dr. Hubbard is on the clock now, I learned everything I know from Lena, so you know I’ve got that Harvard type licensing.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, he’s not even 100% sure he knows who  _ Lena _ is, “There’s not really anything bad. It just sort of feels...flat, I guess. Like it’s not bad, but it’s not really like  _ good _ either.”

“I kind of just feel like—,” He hesitated again, “It feels like we’re only together because it’s what people expected us to do.”

_ No turning back now. _

“Well, if you want my humble opinion,” Aaron already knows Damian’s going to give it to him regardless, “I think you should talk to Caddy about this. And then maybe break up with her too while you’re at it. It’s a sad and painful fact of life, and I love Caddy to death, but I honestly don’t think you two are  _ it. _ ”

Something about that made Aaron’s stomach turn. He’s not really sure he has it in himself to  _ talk  _ to Cady about this. Not now, not yet. Not after everything she went through and did in the past year just for the  _ chance  _ with him.

Damian picked up Aaron’s other hand, fussing with his other to keep the wet polish from wiping off, “C’mon, Aaron. What’s goin’ on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“I don’t think I can talk to Cady yet...is that mean? I just— What if I’m just not giving this a big enough of a chance?”

“I’m pretty sure only you can decide that. But if you want I could totally talk to her for you, I mean—“

“No! No no no, don’t. I’ll get to it when I get to it…”

“Whatever, I’ll just get my annoying drama out of someone else then...like Gretche or Shane maybe.”


End file.
